Activists Accuse Indonesia Military of Massacring 51 Civilians in Village

The military massacred 51 villagers whose bodies were found in the northern province of Aceh, rights activists said Friday.

Military officials denied killing the civilians in Aceh, where the army has intensified a crackdown on guerrillas fighting for an independent Muslim state.

This week, villagers discovered 31 bodies in two separate grave sites and another 20 bodies in a ravine in Beutong, a village about 90 miles southeast of the regional capital of Lhokseumawe. Witnesses said troops rounded up villagers and marched them into the jungle.

“Those massacres show us the cruelty and barbarism that have been perpetrated again and again,” human rights activist Mohammed Dahlan said.

Abdullah Saleh, a lawyer who helped lead the excavation and who is linked with separatist rebels, said he found the body of a relative in one of the graves.

Lt. Col. Widagdo, military district commander in West Aceh, said that troops had killed 31 armed guerrillas in an operation against a rebel base on July 23 but that there were no other casualties. Widagdo, like many Indonesians, uses only one name.

The Indonesian government on Friday created an independent commission to investigate human rights abuses in the province.

“We hope the formation of this commission will reduce the number of human rights violations,” Justice Minister H. Muladi said.